Body thoughts

I went to yoga this week on the evening of the full moon. The teacher said that the Virgo full moon would promote health and balance.  I am in favour of health and balance.

Last night, I had trouble sleeping. I blamed all sorts of complicated thoughts.  And then I spent twenty minutes in a few of my favorite yoga postures and fell peacefully to sleep. Was I awake because of tension in my mind or tension in my body? I am not sure it would be useful to know the difference.

Imagine what would change if you acted as though the condition of your body would determine the quality and resourcefulness of your thoughts. What would you have to change to put your body into a state that would support your best thinking?

Neuroscience is producing lots of evidence that thought is not what we think it is: our words and reason are woven into complicated webs that include many different sensations and impressions. What we feel in our bodies is woven into what we develop as sophisticated theory. We are all of one piece.

Yesterday, I pretended to be younger than I am and ate pizza for dinner while watching a movie. I went for a drive instead of a walk, and I didn't fit meditation or yoga into my day.  It wasn't a bad day: it was a day when I was stepping away from work to relax and gain perspective. I wanted a break from thinking.

Late last night, I knew that my break from thinking was a break from balance.  It showed up in my body and set my mind whirling.  The stuff at the back of my mind didn't move to the front but it began to bounce up against the edges. I lost my balance.

Getting it back could have happened if I had found the right pattern of thoughts. But it wasn't happening until I put my legs up against the wall, turned my ipod to my favourite yoga music and began to breathe.

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